Blue Kicks It Up

TWENTY-SOME YEARS AGO, JONATHAN BLUE was a high school student in downtown Louisville, where he and his classmates at St. Francis pretty much had the streets to themselves.

“That’s before being downtown was cool,” Blue said. “After school, in those days, we’d walk around downtown and hardly see a soul.”

But times have changed. Today, people have returned to the sidewalks of downtown. Restaurants and galleries are opening, the riverfront has been rediscovered, and new construction and careful restoration of classic urban architecture have dramatically changed the skyline of the city’s center. And today, Blue is no longer the high school kid tromping along empty sidewalks wondering where everyone went. At 41, he’s in the thick of the transformation of downtown Louisville from Ghost Town on the Ohio to 21st Century City. He’s one of a handful of young business entrepreneurs painting a fresh new face on a city that thrived through Steamboat Days and the Railroad Age, then went to sleep in the suburbs.

Through the real estate division of Blue Equity LLC, Blue is heavily involved in changing the skyline and sight lines of downtown. But it is through Blue Entertainment Sports & Television (BEST), he says, that the city will benefit most.

“We want BEST to be the leading athletic representation, event management and television content provider in the world,” Blue said. “We have already made a huge impact, if you think about us not even being in the business 18 months ago, and now we’re recognized throughout the world.”

TELEVISION COVERAGE OF THE LOUISVILLE EVENT showcased the big crowds, the city and, especially, Waterfront Park, a jewel of the city’s new look.

Blue thinks business vibrancy is the key to Louisville’s growth, a critical factor, he said, in how the world looks at Louisville.

“If we continue to elevate in the world of sports and entertainment, the city elevates,” he said. “As BEST continues to get recognition throughout the region, throughout the world, Louisville will get recognition, which is great.”

But exactly what does BEST do?

The company is involved in so many different parts of the sports landscape: representing professional sports stars, televising championships, and staging the participatory sports events “Hoop It Up,” “Kick It” and “Let It Fly.”

Which is all by design, he said.

“The key to Blue Equity is the interconnectivity of our businesses,” he explained. “For example, we can locate our companies in our buildings, advertise our events through our media properties and have athletes endorse the products of our sponsors at events we produce.”

Blue sees a full spectrum of sports consumers, from high-income tennis fans who would follow BEST client Justine Henin at the French Open, for which BEST holds the international television distribution rights, to the mid-summer fun of the AVP pro beach volleyball tour, which BEST has steered to the banks of the Ohio River. That’s the sand- and suntan-lotion demographic.

BEST has accomplished its leap into international sports through aggressive acquisition of well-established sports marketing and representation firms.

Among the clients it represents are Henin and fellow tennis star Andy Roddick, pro football’s Reggie Bush and Jason Campbell, and professional basketball stars Rasheed Wallace, Corey Brewer and Joakim Noah. Recently the firm signed University of Kentucky quarterback Andre Woodson, the top choice in this year’s NFL draft.

Complementing its representation of athletes, BEST holds television rights to such prestigious international sports events as the Boston Marathon and the U.S. Open. It also produces and manages a myriad of events, from college basketball’s Hartford Hall of Fame Showcase to M-1 Global mixed martial arts. In all its forms, Blue Equity operates in 58 cities in the United States and eight international cities such as Buenos Aires, Moscow and Sydney.

While professional sports command the spotlight, Blue Equity marketing director Kendra Calvert said the company also sees great potential in its participatory sports ventures – what she calls “grassroots” events. “Hoop It Up” is a three-on-three basketball competition, “Kick It” is three-on-three soccer, and “Let It Fly” is flag football for four-person teams.

“Hoop It Up and the others have been around for some time, but they’ve gained tremendously in popularity as people realize the importance of healthy habits and exercise,” she said. “And these grassroots events offer sponsors something a television commercial can’t: the chance to interact directly with their customers.”

IN THE BEGINNING
Blue’s strategy began with the signing of sports representation pioneer Donald Dell, and pro basketball and football athlete attorney Bill Strickland. Dell, a former captain of the U.S. Davis Cup tennis team, virtually invented sports representation when he signed tennis star Arthur Ashe three decades ago. Over the years, Dell has helped shape the way sports operate in an era of global television and lucrative superstardom.
   
Strickland, once a protegee of Dell, has built a solid sports representation firm known for high integrity. He likes to think of himself as an attorney, rather than an agent.

“First of all, I’m a legal counsel for a business client – and sometimes a parent, too,” Strickland said. “You play a multitude of roles in advising a client.”

And it helps to know both sides of the athletic street: athletics and business.

Strickland grew up playing basketball and baseball in Los Angeles, where he was a high-school teammate of future UCLA star Curtis Rowe. The L.A. Dodgers drafted Strickland, but a knee injury in his senior year ended his playing ambitions.

While Rowe was leading the Bruins to national championships, Strickland studied at UCLA, then graduated from Georgetown University law school. He practiced with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but eventually followed his yen for private practice representing sports stars in the burgeoning sports business field. His early representation efforts involved, among others, former L.A. Lakers star James Worthy and former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Boomer Esiason.

Strickland’s connection to Louisville was all relative. One day, Brian Thompson, a friend and former legal colleague at the SEC, called Strickland to ask him to represent his nephew, Billy Thompson, a University of Louisville basketball All-American who was heading to the NBA after leading the Cardinals to the 1986 NCAA title.
   
“That’s the way this business is,” explained Strickland. “It’s built upon years and years of relationships and earned trust. It doesn’t happen instantly.”

Soon Strickland was back in Louisville to recruit Cardinals All-American Pervis Ellison. But there was another player to see in Freedom Hall that night who wasn’t even playing.

“I was sitting in the stands with U of L assistant Scooter McCray before a U of L game, when this little, skinny kid came bounding up the aisle,” recalled Strickland. “Scooter pointed at him and said, ‘There’s your star of the future, and someday you will want to represent him.’ He said, ‘That’s (U of L assistant coach) Wade Houston’s kid – and he can really play.’ ”

Allan Houston, the skinny little kid running the aisles at Freedom Hall, won a Kentucky high school state championship at Louisville Ballard High, then followed his dad to the University of Tennessee, where Wade guided his son to All-American honors, and into the NBA – with Strickland coming on board to handle his representation.

Joakim Noah, who led the University of Florida to back-to-back NCAA championships and now plays for the Chicago Bulls. Strickland had help in signing Noah from Dell, who had handled the professional tennis representation of French star Yannick Noah, Joakim’s dad.
   
Blue would no doubt term the teaming of Strickland and Dell to sign Noah as a perfect example of “interconnectivity.”

“Jon calls it interconnectivity — what I would call old-fashioned synergy,” said Strickland, with a chuckle. “But it’s the same idea, and I think we’ve got a wonderful partnership with a lot of resources at Blue Equity. We’re going to do some big things.”

The 20th Century model of sports is high school, college and pro, baseball, football and basketball, as well as golf and racing. The 21st Century sports model includes all manner of participation sports:

Beach volleyball has its own pro tour and televised programming through the Association of Volleyball Professionals. “The AVP was looking for another stop on its 2007 tour, and we said, ‘Why not Louisville?’” Blue recalled. “The tour has 18 stops, but most of them are on the West Coast, where the beaches are. And in New York and few big Eastern cities. But Louisville would never have even been thought of, believe me. Not trying to take the credit and brag, just telling you the truth. Without us knowing them and having the rights, Louisville would have never been an AVP stop.”

Television coverage of the Louisville event showcased the big crowds, the city and, especially, Waterfront Park, a jewel of the city’s new look.

“They hauled in a lot of sand, tons of sand,” said Anne Brown, owner of Tandem Sports and Baxter Jacks, a haven for amateur beach volleyball enthusiasts. “Our players got the chance to see the pros and mingle with them. They also volunteered as program sellers, judges and VIP ticket takers. It was girls in bikinis and guys in swim trunks. Young people in shape, music — it was just like a beach party!”
   
“We turned Waterfront Park for a week into a beach, and it was just plain fun,” said Blue. “Because we’re here, we can bring those kind of events here. Especially participatory sports.”

And ones you wouldn’t wish to participate in, as well, like boxing Mike Tyson. One of Blue’s first ventures into sports promotion was a 2004 match between boxing bad man Tyson and English contender Danny Williams. Every big fight needs a villain, and you’d have to search high and low to find a bigger villain than Tyson.

Despite unpleasant commentary, tickets for the fight sold like hot cakes. ESPN came to town for a week previewing the battle. And the fight turned out to be a sight itself, with Williams punching his way to victory against Tyson determined to regain his ranking. Blue said the fight was one of the top-grossing single events ever held in Freedom Hall. Maybe the biggest ever.

“It just shows Louisville will get behind a big idea,” said Blue, noting that in a city that produced Muhammad Ali and other champions, there hadn’t been a big fight in decades.

He doesn’t mean he’s going into boxing promotion full time, rather, he wants fresh activities.

“What we’re looking for is something everyone else is NOT already doing,” said Blue. “We’re looking for something fresh. Maybe something children can participate in. Along the riverfront or downtown is ideal.”

In early February, Blue Equity, LLC announced they were acquiring the entertainment management powerhouse Management Group International, owned by successful entrepreneur and music manager, Kenneth Crear, whose clients include Janet Jackson and Nick Carter. Crear will move from his current offices in Hollywood to Beverly Hills to launch the Blue Equity entertainment office. He will continue as the president of MGI to help lead Blue Equity’s foray into music management.


Jonathan Blue

“WE HAVE TO HAVE PRODUCTS THAT APPEAL TO ALL DIFFERENT FACETS of the population. If you just have the high-end events, you’ll just have the high-enders, and they won’t be here on the weekends.”

Blue sees the new arena coming to downtown as another opportunity to realize this vision.

“And I’m talking about beyond the primary tenant, which is U of L basketball,” he said. “You have to have the right event in it, but when you have a facility that is on par with arenas in other cities, then you can go after the top events.”

Which brings Blue back to the sidewalks.

“To be a city, we have to have residents downtown,” he said. “People can’t just come and visit. It needs to be a 24-hour urban core. And, self-servingly, that helps us in our events. We have to have products that appeal to all different facets of the population. If you just have the high-end events, you’ll just have the high-enders, and they won’t be here on the weekends.

“Hopefully,” Blue added, “we’ll have the entertainment products that will allow many different types of people to come and live downtown. Everything should go at that point if we have that.”